Cunliffe lambasts English over OCR rate increase
28.0710 The near certain 25 basis point rise in the Official Cash Rate (OCR) tomorrow risks driving up interest and exchange rates and increasing the pressure on already struggling Kiwi families, says Labour Finance spokesperson David Cunliffe. More

National confused about overseas investment position
27.07.10 National is still confused over whether it wants to encourage or discourage overseas investment in New Zealand farmland, says Labour Associate Finance spokesperson David Parker. More

Hide's plan to roll out super city horror show
26.07.10 Kiwis who have watched Rodney Hide’s super city horror show in Auckland can stop wondering who will be next ---- it is them, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Phil Twyford. More

Carmel Sepuloni takes on extension of 'fire at will' law
18.07.10 The Government’s move to extend the ninety day ‘fire at will’ law is disappointing but far from surprising, says Labour MP Carmel Sepuloni. More

Welcom home Pete Bethune
7.07.09The Green Party is celebrating news that Pete Bethune is to come home. “Pete Bethune is a brave Kiwi who protected whales when his Government would not and we look forward to his return to NZ,” Dr Russel Norman, Green Party co-leader said today. More

Key must raise human rights and tell China New Zealand is not for sale
6.07.10 John Key needs to do two things when he meets with senior Chinese leaders this week - raise human rights concerns and tell China that our productive land is not for sale, Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman said today. More

Waitakere Ranges Protection Society criticizes Auckland Regional Council over kauri rot
20.06.10 The Waitakere Ranges Protection Society (WRPS)have lambasted the Auckland Regional Council (ARC), for its failure to take effective action, in halting the spread of PTA (Phytopthora taxon Agathis), a mould that causes the collar rot fatal to kauri.
More

90-day work probation back on the agenda
17.06.10 National’s unpopular 90-day employment probation period law which removed basic rights for employees for the first three months in a new job is back up for debate, Labour List MP for Waitakere Carmel Sepuloni More

Rotundo development set to proceed, Titirangi Ratepayers and Residents Association withdraws appeal
14.06.10 The controversial Titirangi Ratepayers and Residents Association appeal to the Environment Court regarding the Rotundo development proposal in Titirangi has now been withdrawn by the Association. More

Council votes against rent increase for pensioners
10.06.10 Waitakere City Councillors today unanimously voted not to increase the rent of its older adult housing tenants. Instead $300,000 will be added to the annual plan to cover recent refurbishment costs. More

Tax cuts cause interest rate rise
10.06.10 Finance Minister Bill English's unaffordable tax cuts for high-income New Zealanders made today's rise in the Official Cash Rate inevitable, says Labour Finance spokesperson David Cunliffe."By breaking his promise to make the Budget fiscally neutral, and by handing out tax stimulus to upper income earners who did not need it, Bill English has made the Reserve Bank's job harder, and next year's interest rate and inflation outlook worse." More

Budget GST increase sows first bitter seeds
10.06.10 The Government’s insistence on raising GST has clearly fed into today’s rise in the Official Cash Rate, and there’s more pressure to come on most Kiwis, says Labour’s Finance spokesman David Cunliffe. More

IMF report shows budget lolly scramble wrong
29.05.10 A sobering IMF report on the New Zealand economy issued this week raises serious questions about National's profligate $15b tax lolly scramble. More

NZTA releases $40 million for New Lynn works
26.05.10 The final tick has been given to $40.14 million in New Zealand Transport Agency funding for major roading infrastructure work in New Lynn. More

Government says NO to Aucklanders
24.05.10 Government has said 'no' to the two big things that Aucklanders wanted that would help fix their broken super city model and shift control back into their hands, says Labour’s spokesperson for Auckland Issues Phil Twyford More

Aucklanders reject government process on super city
20.05.10 The Our Auckland referendum results show a massive 96% of respondents do not approve of the way the Government is setting up the new Auckland Council. 95% do not think that enough attention has been paid to the wishes of Aucklanders and 94% do not think the Government has officially asked them what kind of Auckland they want. More

Paula Bennett - Beneficiary Basher
29.04.10 Mickey Savage writes: I was appalled at the behaviour of Paula Bennett last year when she released the benefit details of two beneficiaries who had the temerity to complain that the benefit that Bennett had in gaining qualifications had been cut. Last July she released the income details of solo mothers Jennifer Johnston and Natasha Fuller. She thought the Privacy Commissioner's website permitted her to do this.More

Waikato pipeline not delivering the goods
28.040.10 Waitakere Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse is disappointed that Watercare’s promised solution to Auckland’s water shortage, the Waikato River pipeline, has not delivered. More

West Auckland staunch in protection of the Ranges
22.04.10 Labour MP Lynne Pillay today tabled a petition in Parliament calling for protection of the Waitakere Ranges to be maintained. More

Minister risks politicising aid programme
20.04.10 Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully appears to be imposing his own political prejudices on the Government's funding of NGO aid programmes, says Labour's associate Foreign Affairs spokesperson Phil Twyford. More

Probus Club of West Auckland Celebrates its 25th anniversary
20.04.10 The Probus Club of West Auckland was chartered 25 years ago by the Rotary Club of Henderson. Since then other clubs have have been formed, mostly double gender Clubs. The West Auckland Club is an all male Club filling a gap for many retired men wishing to meet others of similar interests and age. More

Community organises to win 'Super' city elections
7.04.10 A new community coalition, Future West, has formed to make sure West Aucklanders get the best possible outcome from the 'Super' city mess. The coalition's goal is to get strong, progressive local people elected, so the Waitakere way is kept alive in the new, amalgamated structure. The coalition backs community-power and keeping community assets like libraries, pools and water in community control. It wants safer streets, local jobs, better public transport and to see the Eco-City values spread across the region. It also supports Maori representation on Council. More

Hides push for privatisation
7.04.10 Rodney Hide needs to come clean about his push to privatise Auckland assets” says Labour Spokesperson on Auckland Issues, Phil Twyford.

Mr. Hide will be the keynote speaker at the Local Government Asset Management Conference. The main event on the agenda is a panel discussion around the implications of privatisation of local government assets in New Zealand. More

Government must support Anti-whaling protester
3.04.10 The Government must do more to ensure Anti-whaling protester Peter Bethune is not victimised as he faces charges by Japanese authorities, Labour’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson Chris Carter said today. More

Clinicians reject Smith's ACC sexual abuse guidelines
1.04.10 The New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists has overwhelmingly rejected ACC Minister Nick Smith’s imposed guidelines on sexual abuse, Labour’s Victims Rights spokesperson Lynne Pillay says. More

National window dressing on Seabed and Foreshore
31.03.10 National's preferred option on the foreshore and seabed shows that the whole process has been window dressing, Labour Leader Phil Goff said today. More

Corporate appointment will fuel suspicions
25.03.10 “The Government’s appointment of liquor boss Doug McKay as CEO of the Auckland Transition Agency will reinforce Aucklanders' fears about the corporatisation of local democracy”, says Labour’s Auckland Issues spokesperson, Phil Twyford. more

Flawed bill will still cost Aucklanders
24.03.10 Labour MP Phil Twyford says Rodney Hides third super city bill states that 6 of the Auckland CCOs will pay tax. Today’s promise by Mr Hide to make these CCOs tax neutral is an example of mistakes that are made when Ministers ram through legislation without working through the issues properly first. More

Labour to take fight to Bennett in Waitakere
24.03.10 Labour’s candidate for Waitakere, Carmel Sepuloni, is looking forward to taking the fight to Paula Bennett to reclaim the seat.

“It was a tough selection process and now I am looking forward to working with my Westie colleagues Lynne Pillay, David Cunliffe and Chris Carter to put Waitakere back in the Labour camp,” Carmel Sepuloni said. More

Carter tables whaling petition
23.03.10 Labour’s Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Chris Carter today tabled a petition opposing New Zealand’s support for a return to commercial whaling, which was signed by 3,475 people.

His petition was blocked last Thursday when he was denied leave by National and ACT MPs. more

And the winner is ...Carmel Sepuloni.
20.03.10 In a hotly contested contest Carmel Sepuloni edged out Phil Twyford and Hamish McCracken and Ann Pala to gain the Labour nomination for the Waitakere seat for the 2011 general election. More

National tinkers while kiwis suffer and toil
17.03.10 More evidence of Kiwi’s distrust of National’s plans to hike GST have been unearthed in the latest Westpac consumer confidence survey, Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Cunliffe said today.
“The survey found 56 per cent of Kiwis believe they would be no better or worse off under John Key’s GST and tax plan, and they’re right,” David Cunliffe said. more

Hide spins in face of mounting opposition
16.03.10 Labour's Auckland Issues spokesperson, Phil Twyford says “Minister of Local Government, Rodney Hide is misleading Aucklanders on a daily basis as the list of super city critics grows longer and longer.” More

Free the whale defender
13.03.10 New Zealand authorities must do everything they can to bring whale-defender Peter Bethune back home, the Green Party said today.More

Stop Loan sharks - Carol Beaumont MP
12.03.10 Yesterday at Mangere I launched my Stop Loan Sharks campaign. Along with Sua William Sio, Len Brown Mayor of Manukau (and prospective Mayor of Auckland), Darryl Evans Mangere Budgeting and Family Support Services and Andrew Shann a long time campaigner against loan sharks I described elements of this exploitative practice and possible solutions. More

Maori representation in the Super City please
12.03.10 A lack of Māori representation at all levels of the Super City is going to be detrimental to the future of Auckland, the Green Party said today. More

Commissions report highlights for local boards to have real power
11.03.10 “The Local Government Commission’s final decisions on the boundaries for the new Auckland Council highlight the need for Rodney Hide to ensure local boards are given real powers” Phil Twyford said today More

Heritage Fund preserving Waitakere's past
11.03.10 A total of $54,000 in grants has been allocated from the 2009-10 fund, which demonstrates the council’s commitment to the ongoing preservation of the west’s precious cultural heritage resources. More

Ratepayer groups unite against council
11.03.10 Residents and Ratepayers groups representing communities across the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area have united in their opposition to changes proposed to the District Plan by Waitakere City Council. More

Hide must come clean on Auckland Council Powers
10.03.10 “Rodney Hide needs to come clean about what powers the Auckland Council will have regarding the hiring and firing of Council-owned company directors ”, says Phil Twyford .

On TV One’s Close Up programme, Rodney Hide claimed the Auckland Council “could meet and sack one or all of the people on the CCO’s" , in response to criticism of his powers to appoint the initial directors of the seven powerful council-owned companies that will run most of the Super City's operations. More

Controversy surrounds Local plan changes
09.03.10 Proposed Changes to the Waitakere City Council District Plan has aroused controversy amongst local community groups. Both the Waitakere ranges Protection Society and the Titirangi Ratepayers and Residents have come out against the proposals and have urged residents to make submission to the Council on the proposed plan changes More

 

Labour's Waitakere candidate Carmel Sepuloni taking on National's 'fire at will' law Picture © John Chapman